HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (June 20, 2008) - The U.S. Men's National Team was firing on all cylinders on Friday while Bulgaria never quite got started as the United States defeated Bulgaria 25-23, 25-16, 25-16 on Friday in their first of two World League matches at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

The U.S. Men improved their World League record to 3-0 and now lead Pool C by themselves as Bulgaria fell to 2-1. The two teams will meet again at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

An enthusiastic crowd of 4,200 watched Clay Stanley (Honolulu, Hawai'i) lead all scorers with 17 points on 10 kills, five aces and two blocks. Reid Priddy (Richmond, Va.) added 14 points on nine kills, three aces and two blocks.

Danail Milushev led Bulgaria with 14 points on 14 kills.

"I'm happy with the way we played in a few phases. I thought we served well and blocked at a good level," said U.S. Head Coach Hugh McCutcheon (Christchurch, New Zealand). "This was about trying to get our team going. We only have 10 matches before going to the Olympic Games. We don't have a lot of time to prepare."

The U.S. Men out-blocked Bulgaria 12-5 and had 12 aces as compared to one for Bulgaria. Team USA converted 56 percent of its attack attempts as opposed to 49 percent for Bulgaria.

Ryan Millar (Palmdale, Calif.) scored nine points on a match-high five blocks and four kills. Tom Hoff (Park Ridge, Ill.) added five points on four kills and one block. Scott Touzinsky (St. Louis, Mo.) scored five points on five kills.

Setter Lloy Ball (Woodburn, Ind.) scored four points on aces. David Lee (Alpine, Calif.), who only played in the third set at middle blocker, scored three points on two blocks and a kill.

McCutcheon started Priddy and Touzinsky at outside hitter, Hoff and Millar at middle blocker, Ball at setter, Stanley at opposite and Lambourne at libero. Lee and outside hitter Sean Rooney (Wheaton, Ill.) both substituted in the third set.

The first set saw Bulgaria take a timeout with the United States leading 5-1. Nevertheless, the U.S. Men held an 8-4 lead at the first technical timeout. Bulgaria"s offense woke up and helped the team come back and take the lead at 12-11.

The teams battled back and forth until Priddy took the serve with the score 18-18 and gave the United States the lead on an ace. Bulgaria called a timeout, and Priddy responded with another ace. Priddy went on to serve the U.S. Men to a 22-18 lead.

Behind the serving of Boyan Yordanov, Bulgaria cut the lead to 22-21, but a U.S. block kept Team USA in front and the United States went on to a 25-23 win.

The U.S. Men held an 8-4 lead at the first technical timeout of the second set, but this time Bulgaria did not respond. The United States took a 16-8 lead into the second technical timeout and went on to a 25-16 win.

The U.S. Men led the third set 8-7 at the first technical timeout and 16-11 at the second before steaming to the victory.

WORLD LEAGUE TICKETS: Tickets for the FIVB World League matches in Hoffman Estates, Ill. (second match June 21 vs. Bulgaria), Green Bay, Wis. (June 27-28 vs. Finland) and Bloomington, Ill. (July 11-12 vs. Spain) are still available. To purchase tickets, go to the USA Volleyball World League site at www.usavolleyball.org/national/08WL.asp.